What car: £1,500 summer soft-top fun

[Gruber]

I have an almost unbearable itch to buy a cheap summer toy. Essential criteria:

• soft-top,
• max £1.5k,
• will have to live outside,
• needs to have lots of MOT,
• must qualify for cheap (i.e. classic) insurance
• ready to drive away and enjoy - no projects
• for sale within (say) 50 miles of Battersea SW11
• immediately available - I want to buy it tomorrow while the sun's still shining.

Thoughts so far are MX5 / Golf Mk 1 oriented. Doesn't have to be overtly "sporty" - I just want something to ponse around in. Obscure suggestions welcomed, provided they meet the criteria above.

So... what do you suggest? If it's not breaking PH protocol, real life available-to-buy-tomorrow examples would be marvellous.

[Gruber]

You lot are brilliant! I wander off to a meeting for an hour and come back to all this. Brilliant!

The MX5 is the obvious choice, but I'm keen to explore the options. Thanks for those examples. Much prefer the Mk1 with pop-ups to the Mk2. And my best mate used to own one, which I drove a few times, so I know how much fun they are.

MGF - hmmmm. Worth a test drive I guess, but not really floating my boat.

Saab - now I like that very much indeed. Excellent suggestion! Although I see the price on their website is £100 more than on PH. Sunshine inflation perhaps? Probably puts it out of budget, but worth a look.

BMW - I've got two already. GF doesn't think I should own three at the same time. She thinks three starts to look like "a collection". Which is bad. Somehow. Would consider an E30 but don't like the E36 cab shape.

Landy Series III - I would love one of these!!! I've wanted one since I was 3. But can I find one with a years MOT and a soft-top within budget???

Keep 'em coming. Great work so far!

[Gruber]

denniswise9 said:

and what about the superlight Cappuccino?

[Gruber]

Also just realised I missed the Alfa Spider. Again - good shout! Will take a look.

[Gruber]

alfa pint said:

vixen1700 said:

alfa pint said:

At £1500, chances are it'll be knackered. Tread very carefully at that price - rear suspension / cam belt / brakes inc servo / radiators all wear prematurely, before we even start on the electrics.

Was just gonna suggest this one: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2651958.htm

It would be worth a look - it's got the older black plastic interior which drops the price a bit. I'd still run away if the seller didn't know the oil consumption / type of oil, if the cambelt history wasn't there, if the rear suspension bushes hadn't been replaced etc.

The most tempting thing about that one is that the seller claims to be Katie Holmes.

I think I'll be taking Alfa Pint's advice and staying clear of bargain basement Alfas. And that one fails the "long MOT" requirement.

[Gruber]

maffski said:

I think I've got a winner - who wouldn't want to be seen tooling around in this?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

Flippin' heck that's ugly.

[Gruber]

Lefty said:

Series 3 88" Land Rover

Yes please!! Find me one in budget and i'd jump at the chance.

[Gruber]

300bhp/ton said:

Gruber said:

Lefty said:

Series 3 88" Land Rover

Yes please!! Find me one in budget and i'd jump at the chance.

Quite a few on ebay. Just buy a hard top or truck cab and unbolt the roof. Exactly the same vehicle as the soft top ones. You can then buy the canvas and hoops later on.

I agree that this is entirely possible, but not particularly straightforward given that I don't have anywhere to store the hardtop. I'm after low-fuss, and I'm not sure that having to bolt off and on a hard top is quite the order of the day.

[Gruber]

GreatGranny said:

Audi?

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2713579.htm[url]
|http://thumbsnap.com/eCwOpefj[/url]

Looks good nick. Not as good to drive as the 5 but it does look good IMO.

Good find! I like that a lot!